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On a more serious note, I've been flicking through the last gig (

) and basically Matt doesn't play guitar in the following songs:

 

Apocalypse Please (duh)

Starlight

Undisclosed Desires (fair enough)

1/2 of Uprising

 

So that's 1,5 song he is ditching his guitar for. Although I agree that's unnecessary, people are acting like he's ditched it for half of the gig... :stunned:

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So totally for fun (Don't get your knickers in a twist, Spectrum), people who I would replace Matt with (with links included):

 

1.

Vocals+guitar

2.

Vocals+probably guitar and maybe piano?

3.

Vocals

4.

Vocals

5.

Vocals+guitar+piano

6.

Vocals+guitar Edited by Tjet
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On a more serious note, I've been flicking through the last gig (
) and basically Matt doesn't play guitar in the following songs:

 

Apocalypse Please (duh)

Starlight

Undisclosed Desires (fair enough)

1/2 of Uprising

 

So that's 1,5 song he is ditching his guitar for. Although I agree that's unnecessary, people are acting like he's ditched it for half of the gig... :stunned:

Probably because we're counting Dead Inside to those, since that's the way it was performed before the guitar failure. And we still remember Guiding Light, Follow Me and Blackout with horror.
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On a more serious note, I've been flicking through the last gig (
) and basically Matt doesn't play guitar in the following songs:

 

Apocalypse Please (duh)

Starlight

Undisclosed Desires (fair enough)

1/2 of Uprising

 

So that's 1,5 song he is ditching his guitar for. Although I agree that's unnecessary, people are acting like he's ditched it for half of the gig... :stunned:

 

Like Tjet said, it's more of a cumulative thing that's been carrying over for the last 3-6 years. Plus, couple the songs where he drops his parts with the jams, interludes (IS, Prelude, JFK) and whatnot and that's a decent chunk of each gig where the frontman (who's supposed to be known for his energetic and bombastic performances) is either doing not much or nothing at all.

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I didn't mind the no guitar for Follow Me so much, given there's very little of it there anyway. Starlight at the Emirates with no guitar was rubbish, while dropping it for (the first part of) Uprising is a bit nonsensical.

 

Am I right in thinking Morgan is playing Manson's now?

This. It's gonna be so hard for another Muse gig to top that one for me :( Download was great in terms of setlist (and general performance) but Manchester was just... something else.

 

(As were, I assume, the other Psycho tour gigs)

Brighton was great but Shepherd's Bush was next level.

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He definitely played one of the matt black MBs during Dead Inside in Houston and probably during some other songs. I think he had a custom Manson last tour though.

 

I thought he had a Danelectro on The 2nd Law tour - that one he was using on that tour looked similar in shape and colours to the Danelectro guitar that Vaccines singer Justin Young uses, or at least was using until the current tour.

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Theres plenty of frontmen who dont play. Its still being played. Its just Bellamy being known as a major guitar player that makes it awkward.

 

The set is at least half pop, anyways.

 

I agree that there are plenty of frontmen that don't play however they often aren't the lead guitarist (this all started after they opened for Bono btw). Muse is a three piece band that brings in an extra guy to help fill in the sound because their songs are complex dropping a piece is a big deal. When his guitar kicked in during Uprising it was jarring how much more full and powerful the song was. It actually sounds terrible without his guitar so that is a problem. I don't know if Morgan's guitar is not turned up enough or what the problem is but it is definitely different.

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The only ones that would bother me are ones where important aspects of the song are removed, like Blackout; that solo is pretty integral to the song.

 

Follow Me, I honestly liked Matt's "performance" and the guitar really didn't bring a ton to the song (and was an addition, anyways.)

For ones like Uprising, I would imagine the sound levels just weren't correct?

 

I don't want it to be a ton of songs, because Matt IS renowned as a great guitarist, and I do love watching him play, but I've surprisingly found this is not one of the things that really upsets me right now. :chuckle:

 

I was going through some old random reviews, and there really is a ton of stuff out there about how non-interactive Matt is with the crowd, and how people find that to be off-putting.

I personally think Matt could get better at between song banter instead of dropping the guitar to be more "personable" - but we know that's not going to happen. :chuckle:

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The only ones that would bother me are ones where important aspects of the song are removed, like Blackout; that solo is pretty integral to the song.

 

Follow Me, I honestly liked Matt's "performance" and the guitar really didn't bring a ton to the song (and was an addition, anyways.)

For ones like Uprising, I would imagine the sound levels just weren't correct?

 

I don't want it to be a ton of songs, because Matt IS renowned as a great guitarist, and I do love watching him play, but I've surprisingly found this is not one of the things that really upsets me right now. :chuckle:

 

I was going through some old random reviews, and there really is a ton of stuff out there about how non-interactive Matt is with the crowd, and how people find that to be off-putting.

I personally think Matt could get better at between song banter instead of dropping the guitar to be more "personable" - but we know that's not going to happen. :chuckle:

 

How in the world is guitar not integral to Uprising?

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Well it isn't, the first 2 minute of a 5 minute song contains no more than 5 seconds of guitar. It's a bass driven song.

 

Even when it is part of the song, it's t..twang twang, t...twang twang, different chord, repeat, solo, t..twang twang..t..twang twang.

 

It's called "rhythm". Rhythm is integral to a song. It's a counterpoint to the bass.

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The only ones that would bother me are ones where important aspects of the song are removed, like Blackout; that solo is pretty integral to the song.

 

Follow Me, I honestly liked Matt's "performance" and the guitar really didn't bring a ton to the song (and was an addition, anyways.)

For ones like Uprising, I would imagine the sound levels just weren't correct?

 

I don't want it to be a ton of songs, because Matt IS renowned as a great guitarist, and I do love watching him play, but I've surprisingly found this is not one of the things that really upsets me right now. :chuckle:

 

I was going through some old random reviews, and there really is a ton of stuff out there about how non-interactive Matt is with the crowd, and how people find that to be off-putting.

I personally think Matt could get better at between song banter instead of dropping the guitar to be more "personable" - but we know that's not going to happen. :chuckle:

 

The lack of Muse interaction with the crowd is something my wife always comments on. She has been to 9 shows and without fail after each one she always comments on how the band basically says nothing to the crowd other than once or twice yelling "thank you (enter name of city here)" or something along those lines. His light up glasses and not playing a guitar does not help with this. They should try playing a rarity and introduce it with some sort of story of when it is written (this is something acts that have been around forever do, such as Paul McCartney, Billy Joel).

 

On that note he has definitely improved this over the years and has been getting better with the crowd. I thought the way he interacted with the fans in Toronto two nights in a row when they requested Dead Star was awesome.

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It's called "rhythm". Rhythm is integral to a song. It's a counterpoint to the bass.

 

I agree, it is essential as a general statement about song writing.

 

This doesn't address my answer to your question on Uprising, so essential, it's not there for 2 out of 5 minutes.

 

Even then would I care if Matt isn't playing the Rhythm of Uprising, not really.

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How in the world is guitar not integral to Uprising?

Well it isn't, the first 2 minute of a 5 minute song contains no more than 5 seconds of guitar. It's a bass driven song.

 

Even when it is part of the song, it's t..twang twang, t...twang twang, different chord, repeat, solo, t..twang twang..t..twang twang.

 

I thought Morgan was playing it in the video I watched? I guess I could be wrong.

If he wasn't, I guess I'd say I don't miss it, because I didn't even notice if it was missing.

 

I personally don't mind if the band doesn't say one word to the crowd or interact, as long as the performance is good, but it clearly has been an issue to a lot of people, and I can see their point, tbh. It IS a bit unusual.

 

I agree, again, I'd personally rather Matt accomplished this through talking and interacting between songs... and I love the personal story about the song beforehand, but what we've usually gotten (in the US) was a story about how no one knows the song, and no one owns an album before TR.

He said something to a US festival crowd that sounded like a clear insult to the crowd.

Have we forgotten the "how am I feeling tonight...? DEAD INSIDE!" debacle. :chuckle:

He's awkward as fuck talking to the crowd, and it often doesn't come off well.

I think he called Dom the wrong name at one of the recent gigs.

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So totally for fun (Don't get your knickers in a twist, Spectrum), people who I would replace Matt with (with links included):

 

:LOL: Fuck off.

 

The only ones that would bother me are ones where important aspects of the song are removed, like Blackout; that solo is pretty integral to the song.

 

Uprising is mostly octaves and power chords, there's nothing really interesting about that stuff. Omitting it could even be seen as a confession that the song has lackluster guitar work in parts. I'm not a big fan of the song either way, so not overly concerned with whether or not Matt is on guitar.

 

Picking up the guitar and launching into a solo is kinda cool, which is probably the intended reaction. It helps further their transition from a music concert to an audiovisual spectacle, with Matt now changing his role in the music not only mid-concert, but also mid-song. Picking up a guitar and immediately starting to play is also kinda tricky, so it implies virtuosity.

 

What I don't like is playback. Unless Morgan has a special setup that routes his guitar to an arpeggiator, you can't really play guitar and synth at the same time. It's not like this is the first time they've used playback in a song, but it's definitely a new level when the guitarist and synth players are perfectly capable of playing their parts, but instead delegate only partially to maintain the spectacle, picking their instrument back up when the "cool" parts begin.

 

The music has now officially become secondary to the performance, which is really saddening and frustrating.

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I was going through some old random reviews, and there really is a ton of stuff out there about how non-interactive Matt is with the crowd, and how people find that to be off-putting.

I personally think Matt could get better at between song banter instead of dropping the guitar to be more "personable" - but we know that's not going to happen. :chuckle:

 

One could compare this situation to Billie Joe Armstrong performing without the guitar for a few songs and letting their touring guitarist (who doesn't have to stand in a hole) carry the load. Billie Joe definitely takes advantage of not having the guitar to wildly interact with the crowd. He's constantly running around, jumping off the stage, bringing fans up to sing etc. The difference is that he is a total extrovert and wild man on stage. His interactions with the crowd seem completely natural and he plays to his strengths to pump the crowd up. Matt seems much more introverted and awkward when he tries to be Bono or Billie Joe Armstrong or whomever. He would be playing to his strengths but simply keeping the guitar strapped on and shredding. Forget the half-hearted fist pumps and casual walking around. Play the bloody guitar.

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UD has actually become even more pointless.... Matt just hides behind the curtains with a red pair of those flashing glasses he used to wear during uprising

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0Wn9n4tEg

 

At least it sounds better than it did last tour I think? Ah who even knows I just want it to leave

 

Honestly I love the shit out of this song and always have, I would love for it to stay in setlists forever but not at the expense of 'return-to-form' tracks like Defector. Sad times

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